Eruption of Mount Thandur
intro Roots of Destruction Mages from the town of Avalon discovered the location of a Book of Keeping on Mount Thandur. According to legend, the Books of Keeping are a powerful set of artifacts that contain the true names of many (if not all) fiends in the multiverse, each one containing names for a specific race of fiend (One for Demons, One for Devils, Yugoloths, etc.). These books can be used to not only summon fiends, but to control them as a fiend must obey any command given which includes their true name. The Thandurian Book of Keeping contained the names of many powerful demons, including the demon prince Draador, a powerful Baylor from the abyss. After some considerable study on the mountain, The mages, lead by the enigmatic Iggwelv, were able to summon Draador. Few details are known about what happened on the mountain, but at some point the wizards lost control of Draador. What followed was the eruption of mount Thandur and the opening of a demon gate. Eruption and Crisis Villagers in the region reported strange events throughout the year 1003 B.S. These included tremors, the mysterious disappearance (and sometimes gruesome murder of) live stock, An increase in the number of stillborns, etc. A yellow-brown cloud rolled over Kynllyn in mid summer, causing all the crops in the immediate region to die and laying a heavy smell of sulfur on the region that some say persists to this day, even in the ruins of that village. Some people saw these occurrences for what they were--omens of what was to come. Most of the people in Ludof and Kynllyn stayed, refusing to believe in superstition. On the last day of the 10th month, mount Thandur erupted, spewing hot ash and smoke into the air. The strange occurrences doubled. Previously friendly animals became ravenous and crazed, attacking their owners or fleeing their homes; people became irrational, fighting each other in the streets over minor slights; men and women alike would burst into tears one moment, and then begin laughing at the next, or babble incoherently and uncontrollably in unknown tongues; clouds of birds would fall from the sky every morning, dying in great heaps in the middle of the street; the old and the very young would sleep walk into the streets, gathering in great crowds, waking only to discover that they had been staring at the burning mountain. Soon, demons began appearing throughout the country side. The town of Kynllyn was destroyed within a few days, but the leader of that town, whose name was Cybeth Kirmoore, led most of her people to the neighboring village of Ludof. Meanwhile, in Ludof, Leon and his protege Ralston were tending the vineyards north of the city when they saw a crowd gathering at the bridge on the north side of town. They arrived a few minutes later, discovering that the crowd was watching a man stumble and rant, clutching an ancient tome to his chest. The man looked upon the crowd and said, "Behold what the mighty Iggwelv has wrought!" The mountain promptly erupted, sending lighting and ash into the sky. The ground rumbled, and Iggwelv collapsed on the bridge. Leon and Ralston took Iggwelv to the temple. He awoke a few days later, revealing that he and a group of wizards from the Arcane University in Avalon had been working with a Book of Keeping to summon powerful fiends, and they had lost control of the most powerful--a Demon Balor prince named Draador. He did not how he came to be in Ludof, which was many miles away from the mountain. He revealed that he had the book of keeping in his possession, and that the book had the power to banish Draador from the realm forever. However, reading the book often led many of the mages to madness, which had overtaken him shortly before he arrived in Ludof. Leon and Ralston were called away during this discussion as the refugees from Kynllyn arrived. There was a special counsel meeting with the leaders of the town and Cybeth Kirmoore, the leader of the refugees. It was decided that the people would attempt to defend Ludof from the encroaching demonic threat. Toward the end of this meeting, it was discovered that several shadow demons were hiding in the rafters of the great hall. Leon and Ralston defended most of the counsel from theses spies, though some could not be saved. During this fight, Ralston caused Leon's shield to shine with bright light, allowing Leon to stun many of the shadow demons. The Defense of Ludof The First Wave within a week a group of demons began making advances on Ludof, lead by a Glaberezu. Iggwelv persuaded Leon and Ralston to let him secretly join the fight, so that he could maybe banish the Glaberezu by reading the book of keeping in his possession. The allowed him to do so, not telling Cybeth of the other leaders of Ludof. The party was able to fend off many of the minor demons as they climbed over the wall, but the battle began to turn as the Glaberezu broke through the main gate. Ralston sprouted wings, revealing himself as an Aasimar, and took flight. The battle raged and both sides appeared nearly slain when the Glaberezu plucked Ralston from the sky and smashed him into the earth. This momentary distraction afforded Leon the chance to strike the killing blow on the beast. Leon could not save Ralston. With his dying breath, Ralston revealed that there was a powerful weapon underneath the monastery that would save the town from being destroyed. Leon went to the house where Iggwelv had been and discovered that he had reverted to a raving madman after further reading the Book of Keeping. Leon scooped Iggwelv up and returned him to the monastery and then began searching for the weapon of which Ralston had spoken. While Leon and Ralston were able to keep the Glaberezu from entering the town, many of the other guard outposts had been breached by lesser demons. Many of the townspeople and refugees had been killed, prompting Cybeth to pack up and leave with what remained of her people. Before leaving, she went to the monastery to beg Leon to come with her. While looking through the monastery she discovered Iggwelv, who had reverted to an insane, bedridden mess, ranting about the destruction of Thandur and the coming of Draador. She was able to put together enough of the story to realize what had happened. She left promptly afterward without saying goodbye to Leon. This event planted the seads for Cybeth's antimagic sentiments, which later developed as her people travelled through the Yrksy flats. Intermission: Underneath the Monastery and an Angry Mob As Leon entered the temple sanctuary, the alter began to open and revealed a long shaft leading deep beneath the earth. Leon climbed down this shaft and discovered a small alter in the middle of a field of runes. There were the remains of ancient guardians, long sense deceased, strewn about the chamber. Leon could not see through the darkness until a familiar force caused his shield to light up and illuminate the chamber, as Ralston had been following him around as a ghost. Leon could not enter the outer ring without first praying to Tyr. Once this was completed, he discovered that the alter contained an old, rickety hatchet and nothing else. He attempted to leave the inner circle, but soon discovered that he must leave his other weapons behind in order to do so, leaving him with nothing to defend himself except the battered tool. Believing this to be the weapon Ralston talked about, Leon did so and exited the tomb. Leon left the Monasterry to discover that Cybeth's Caravan had already left. He then went to the blacksmith to create a holy handgrenade out of silver and holy water. On his way back to the Monastery, the earth shakes and a booming voice that comes from every shadow speaks to the town. It says, "I am Draador. Bring me Iggwelv and I will spare you a long and painful death. You have 10 minutes." Leon rushes to the monasterry, barely beating the mob that's forming outside it's oaken doors. Leon begs the crowd to leave Iggwelv alone, as Draador will clearly kill them all anyone. He hears a window shatter somewhere in the monastery and a voice tells him to rush to Iggwelv's aid. He does so as the ghost of Ralston prays to Tyr, appearing as a column of fire before the doors of the temple. Once revealed, Ralston takes on a form similar to his Angelic guardian Valandras. Leon runs to Iggwelv's room, barely arriving and stopping a would be assassin from killing Iggwelv. Valandras calms the crowd, which disperses. Leon and Ralston/Valandras meet at the front of the monastery, share a few words, and look toward the horizon where a column of smoke and lightning head toward the main gate, where the Glaberezu had broken through. The go to meet Draador. The Second Wave Leon and Ralston/Valandras dispatched several lesser demons at the gate. Leon discovered that the hatchet responded whenever he slayed a demon, slowing transforming into Tyr's Justice over the course of the fight. Draador arrives and Ralston/Valandras confront the demon prince directly. Draador teleports behind their defenses and takes flight, followed by Ralston/Valandras. From the air he uses his fire whip to raise Leon 40 feet off the ground, intending to throw him down. However, in this position with full form of Tyr's Justice in hand, Leon is able to deal the killing blow, causing Draador to explode. Leon falls to the earth and dies, but is ressurected by the power of Tyr's justice, which then reverts the weapon back to it's original, hatchet form. Draadors massive sword falls to the earth and turns to stone. One can travel to Ludof even today and see the stone sword of Draador, standing 8 feet out of the earth. His whip, however, being wrapped about Leon when it fell, shrank to a normal size. Aftermath Leon and Ralston Leon begged Ralston/Valandras to stay and help hunt down the remaining demon threat, but having attained such power Ralston/Valandras decline, returning to the astral sea where they could be unified with the power of Tyr. Some legends hold the Ralston/Valandras could never remain whole in such a state, and suggest the ralston has been reborn throughout history as an Aasimar. This has led to some controversy, as some have claimed to be Ralston for fame and fortune without actually performing an good deeds. Before leaving, Ralston revealed that he was the reason the Leon was able to go beneath the temple, and alows Leon to do so one last time to return Tyr's Justice to it's proper place. Leon also gathers the bones of the deceased warriors and gives them a proper burrial. Leon spent the next 10 years fighting demons in the waste of the Yrksy flats, using Draador's fiery whip. Little is known about what happened after that. However, there is a tomb in Ludof claiming to hold the Leon D'Argent's remains, but some scholars have disputed this claim. Cybeth Kirmoore Once on the Yrksy flats, Cybeth felt the tremor of Draadors defeat. She turned and saw the explosion, assuming that Ludof had fallen. The caravan continued travelling north west, fighting small groups of demons kind. They interogated several of these demons, but did not believe them when they said that Draador had fallen ("Have you ever known a demon to tell the truth?"). While magic casters were hepful in this endeavor, Cybeth became increasingly suspicious of them. It is clear now that the presence of demons on the plain had twisted the fields of wild wheat that grew there, turning them into large swaths of Devil Grass. In those days, travellers could depend on this naturally occuring crop for sustenance. It is commonly believed that the caravan injested large amounts of this substance, leading to widespread paranoia. Cybeth's distrust of magic users bloomed fully about a weak after the caravan had travelled through the flats. One night, she and her most trusted men went from tent to tent, killing any known magic caster while they slept. The next day their heads were piled on a bonfire, and from then on the people of Kynllyn were staunchly antimagic. They continued travelling north until they reached the end of the flats, where they set up a city called New Kynllyn. After Cybeth's death, the town was renamed Kirmoore in her honor, though the oldest district is still called New Kynllyn. Ludof Ludof was rebuilt in the next few years after the eruption of Mount Thandur. While some fishing and farming returned to the region, the remain demonic threat made these livelihoods less lucrative than before. Ludof slowly transformed into a hub for Leon and Leon's men to rest and resupply between raids on fiendish camps nests in the Yrksy flats. Soon other lawful good fighters joined in the fight. These factions began setting their own temples as the fiendish threat decreased. Modern day ludof is known for its many temples to good and lawful good deities, and is a common destination for pilgrims of those deities. Some still report seeing a few stray fiends ambling in the flats, and a general unease lays over the fields, but all can feel reassured and safe within the stone walls of Ludof.